Editor's note: This post is part of the Overheard on CNN.com series, a regular feature that examines interesting comments and thought-provoking conversations posted by the community.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been talking about a proposal to ban selling sodas and sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces at restaurants and food carts. This move generated a huge amount of conversation from our readers, and we highlighted a selection of comments on the CNN Mash-up.
New York City seeks to ban big sodas from restaurants, food carts
Big Gulp? Meet Big Brother
Friday happens to be National Doughnut Day, and a few readers are tying the soda and pastry issues together.
omegaworks: "Didn't he (Bloomberg) just cut the doughnut this morning for National Doughnut Day? National Doughnut Day... we can't drink soda, but we can celebrate National Doughnut Day ... I guess doughnuts aren't fattening."
Bloomberg's signature is on a proclamation declaring June 1, 2012, to be "NYC Donut Day" in honor of the 75th year of this tradition, which honors dessert-serving Salvation Army volunteers during World War I. The proclamation is posted on a New York Times blog.
A special gift, then? (Krispy Kreme is also marking its 75th birthday this year.)
Top_News: "National doughnut day? I think I'll send 2 dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts to NYC Mayor Bloomberg just for the heck of it. LOL"
And, for that matter ...
Jeff: "How am I supposed to wash down my 12-inch doughnut with this piddly little 16 ounce drink?"
The most-liked comment from the "Big Gulp" piece suggested giving the proverbial sibling something to do. Others said they think obesity is becoming too big a problem.
Rosemary Sterner: "Maybe if Big Brother would bring back physical education and recess to schools, half the problem would be solved."
Jeremy Iverson: "I hate the government telling me what I can/can't do, but Americans are SOO fat. It's hard not to support this on some level if for nothing else than the message it sends."
Many readers talked about the American diet. This reader says Bloomberg should focus on knowledge.
scnn1a: "Wouldn't it be better if Bloomberg tried to educate people on why to avoid sugary drinks? It seems to me that if people are ignorant they'll just get hooked on to another bad habit! Then doughnut shops will do more business."
This person says there's something to be said for Bloomberg's ideas.
amirite: "I'm so sick and tired of having to pick from supersaturated corn syrupy nasty drinks with my meal. There are some sodas that have half the calories of what's in Pepsi and Coke products and they taste BETTER than the nasty supersweet crap. I want a drink, not a birthday cake in my soda. Others are right, the soda sizes have gone crazy. Drinking a large drink like those banned is like eating a dozen of doughnuts instead of a couple, or eating a whole chicken instead of a serving. Big drinks do make you fat."
New York and California, in the crosshairs.
ThisGADude: "NYC's biggest problem isn't soda. It's a mental deficiency that tends to make one believe you know everything regardless of how ridiculous you sound. The symptoms are prevalent in California, too."
Heck yes, America.
jlerari11: "Bloomberg really doesn't get America. The fact that you can buy a 64 ounce Super Gulp for 99 cents makes it the greatest country on Earth. If you want to dictate our food portions, go govern China or Cuba. Besides, we are not fat because of the availability of large soft drinks. We are fat because so many of us just quit moving. We sit behind a computer for 8 hours and then behind the TV for another 4. What would you expect your body to look like? Do you think a 12 ounce Diet Coke is going to fix that?"
iReporter Sean Cochran of Joliet, Illinois, said in a video post that he actually would support a sugary drinks rule in his town.
“I just feel that we (Americans) find every excuse not to lose weight or get in shape. Yet we always complain that we are too fat or that we need to diet. The first time someone tries to make us do something healthy, all we do is complain. I would welcome the change in Illinois.”
Many looked to the future. Could other kinds of, um, dietary changes be on the horizon?
Halley DeVestern: "Yeah, this is silly. You might as well ban all 'unhealthy' food and beverages in NYC. No more Scotch, bacon, beer, vodka, fettuccine Alfredo, coffee, pate de fois gras, ice cream, cheese, filet mignon, dougnuts, etc. We'll be livin' on Soylent Green next ..."
For everyone else, there's this dining option.
Didelphis325: "I'd love to start a restaurant down here in GA and call it 'Banned in NYC.' Our menu would consist only of items that were deep-fried, pan-fried, chicken-fried or barbecued. Vegetables would include fried okra, fried mushrooms, fried onion rings, fried green tomatoes, french fries or fried corn. Beverages would all be larger than 16 ounces. Although we could not allow smoking, we would have spittoons for those who cared to chew. Every chair would have a picture of Bloomberg on the seat. I consider myself a liberal but this guy is something else."
What's your take? Share your opinion, or just your doughnuts, in the comments area below and in the latest stories on CNN.com. Or sound off on video via CNN iReport.
Compiled by the CNN.com moderation staff. Some comments edited for length or clarity.
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertising practices | Advertise with us | About us | Work for us | Help
Recent university studies, at LSU for example, have defined a link between a persons lifespan and the total number of calories said person processses during their life.
80% of the energy produced by the human body is dedicated to one thing; producing enzymes to process calories. (We do everything else with the remaining 20%) The human body is a machine, and like any machine the harder you work it the faster it wears out. Especially inside out.
Bodily training is beneficial @Joey. However, taking care of the inside is of considerable more value than that of the outside.
@banasy. I assume nothing. nor did I intimate every fat person is on drugs. We spend more on mind-altering drugs as a nation than we do on national defense. Our obesity epidemic began AFTER pharmaceuticals that come with label warnings of weight gain became readily available to US. (after WWII) If these drugz couldn't make you fat, their lables wouldn't warn of it. (ditto brain damage)
@ the diet-soda-study expert on my stationery, 11:16 AM;
It those studies, which came first: the diet soda or the larger waist?
BAYER AG patented the word 'heroin' in 1898, 'aspirin' in 1899. Aspirin then became the most readily available illegal street drug on earth. For it would be another decade before aspirin became available w/o a prescription, and not until 1962 before aspirin was deemed safe for *children*. (not long after a CA doktor coined the phrase 'an aspirin per day keeps the doctor away')
True @banasy. Aspirin does not cause weight gain as other pharmaceuticals do. Long term aspirin abuse makes it harder for a person to cry. Tears are to your heart what sweat is to your armpit...a way to cleanse and purify. (Jesus wept tears of blood so pure was his heart, for example)
Interesting.
There is a correlation between aspirin and not being able to cry?
I have never heard of aspirin abuse, either, although I suppose anything can be abused.
I cry easily...but I laugh even more easily.
Laughter is much better.
Aw, yes, synthetic heroin, oxycotin, for liver pain.
And might I add that asprin is also known to cause...
* Heart failure
* Asthma
* Stomach ulcers
* Bleeding or clotting disorders
* Diabetes (the American Diabetes Association advises people with diabetes take only the very lowest dosage of aspirin)
I couldn't find any information on asprin at the website though, could you direct me to what I should click on, once I get to the home page.
Thank you in advance, as I am out for the day... nature calls.
Not that kinda nature... you sick-minded puppies!
@Philip:
I didn't know that was you.
The way you worded you post was rather misleading...so I commented.
If I had realized that it were you, I wouldn't have commented at all, knowing how much you hate to have me comment on anything you talk about.
That's the problem of changing usernames so often...
Joey? It is self-abuse that leads to erectile dysfunction and prostate troubles, not to mention heart disease. Simply control yourself, and your prstate will serve you well until the day you die of old age. (i can explain further if need be)
Always good to see you friend.
Caro Philip,
Thank you for your intentions.
However, I was actually inquiring about what I could do in the gym to help the stated prostate situation, which I realize, considering your age, could only represent a problem for you in your future.
The matter of self-abuse that you discussed is not relevant in my case, as I addressed it in Sunday School classes when I was ten years old.
As a result, I have never committed the act to which you refer, opting to abstain completely throughout my life.
I was aided considerably in this accomplishment by the copious use of 325 mg. Bayer aspirin tablets.
Who are you talking about?
@ [@banasy]:
In reference to what?
Not. Going. There.
"That would be assuming every overweight person is on some sort of medication.
I do not think that is the case."
You said " some sort of medication"
I was referring to Aprin as medication, not one that you can gain weight from. (DUH)
@Aspirins:
Oh, ok, I should have wriiten it more clearly.
You are assuming that every overweight person is on medication that causes weight gain.
I do not believe that to be the case.
Talk about gnat straining....sematics.
I'll agree with you there again: Tylenol isn't all it's advertised to be.
@banasy "ASPIRIN...is not given to children, say you. I replied that aspirin was approved for children in 1962. Perhaps you could remind US what year Prozac was approved for children.
If you don't know the answer to that ask your drug addict doctor friend.
Aspirin is NOT given to children, as it has been linked with Reyes syndrome.
You will not find a box of Children's Aspirin of the shelves anymore, as it is no longer approved for children, even though, as you say, it originally was in 1963.
Af far as I know, Prozac isn't approved for use with children.
They are doing a fine job of deleteing responses today.
Ok, Joey. Still, most have not been able to control themselves as you and I have. Self-abuse hardens the heart physically. During intercourse, endorphins are released, do their job, and then are 'burned up' along with calories during the seaty excercise of intercourse. Self-abuse (aka masturbation) simply doesn't burn enough calories to burn endorphins which then go straight to your heart and cause damage.
For centuries people wondered why God's word recommended sleeping with pro sti tutes over "spilling ones seed on the ground". Now we see the wisdom found in those words.
Ja, Philip...
Verily, there you have another wise Biblical admonition, that one being in reference to the best existing exercise for the abdominal muscles.
Wow ! The biggest issue facing the mayor of New York is a Big Gulp ! He must have cured the crime rate and taken out all the terrorist threats ! And nobody new about it !
Stomach ulcers are hardly *nit-picking*
I agree.
This will be a federal ban in the near future. Sugar is the new drug. Compare to how prohibition was meant just to help promote health.
Sugar is the least of it. Sugar is converted into energy very easily. As far as diet goes, red meat and dairy are the worst offenders, being the very hardest to digest. (also increasing your carbon footprint several times more than chicken, fish, or soy)
What's mostly missing in our diets is live green vegetables and fresh fruit, both of which aid tremendously in the digestion of food and the scrubbing of fat cells.